Social Media Ball
01/2010




For too long, internal communication has been consigned to the shadows, taking a back seat to its external corporate counterpart. The responsibilities of internal communicators were seen as being limited to newsletters, employee magazines and other mouthpieces. If there were breakthroughs and success stories, then more often than not recognition would go to the more publicly visible external communicators. The global economic and financial market crisis has inadvertently set in motion the end of this imbalance, by presenting new challenges to internal communicators and reaffirming their centrality to the success of the organisation. Internal communicators have proven to be the heroes of the day as companies all over the world were shaken by the economic turmoil, and struggled to buoy up their shaken workforces. Employees can no longer be treated as a simple variable, a cog in the organisational wheel from which top management demands perfect results, efficiently delivered, no questions asked. Decision makers who have survived the crisis recognise that corporate success will remain a mere mirage if employees are not taken seriously and treated as valued partners. Given this development, internal communication is moving swiftly into the foreground. It must evolve as an integrated strategic partner, an irreplaceable part of any competitive organisation. In this issue, our authors include Deborah Hudson of Zurich Financial Services, who details the internal strategies used to cope with the crisis; Michael Inacker, of Metro Group, who explains an innovative way of connecting employees with their CEO; and Total SA’s Yves-Marie Dalibard, who writes on how internal communication helps construct the corporate identity.

Marc-Oliver Voigt
Editor-in-Chief
m.voigt@communication-director.eu